Malaysian Idiots

Six o'clock in the morning and I was already on the road to somewhere. Dark and cold, I had to turn up the heater to its max. I wish I don't have to do this everyday, but it's what I ended up doing anyway *sigh*

Sometimes I like driving, with a purpose or just for the sake of getting out of the house. Let me tell you, driving in London is very challenging. I remember the first time I had to drive a van to send something to some customers. Since my old van was not so little like the current one, I was so terribly traumatised. So many narrow streets, one way alleys or restricted areas. Geez! All the while, one hand on the steering wheel and the other was flipping the London A-Z. My eyes, oh god! were so wild scanning the streets and the pages at the same time and I was sweating like a pig. It's a wonder I didn't hit someone's car. So, I understand when someone mentioned about being 'keras' on the road. Now and then, I feel uneasy but it's no longer a nightmare. During that panic-stricken period, not once did I ever be at the receiving end of other drivers' wrath. They let me change lanes and give way whenever I missed a turning. No question about stopping at a zebra crossing and never failed to put up their hands to thank you when I gave them the right of way. I can say it was the same situation in the States. Me, being a typical Malaysian driver with bad manners, (who was used to 'cilok sini, cilok sana' in the streets of KL with my Kancil) finally succumbed to this driving etiquette. I have no qualms letting a few cars go in front of me when we were stuck in a queue. I did the same when I went back to KL but my metro friends thought I was nuts.

In KL, drivers 'tak kasi chan punye', they will try to stay as close as possible to the front car. If you try to 'cilok', you're sure gonna get cursed. Try it and I am pretty sure most drivers will mutter 'Bodoh punye driver' to you. You get all sorts of comments 'driver lembab', 'terhegeh-hegeh macam lembu' etc. In the end, you just have to follow what other drivers do. Join the race. At the traffic light, don't forget to speed up when it changes to yellow. If there are just two lanes, create another one because you're too cool to stay behind. Bus lanes are not just for buses, private cars and lorries are allowed. Man! I can make a list of many more offences but I'm not going to bother. It irritates me so much. Fines are not working at all. RM300 for an offence can be reduced to RM30 if you know someone who knows someone. I tell you what, since I live in the UK, I have been fined about 5 times because my devilish driving attitude cropped up. And since May, I have been donating hundreds of £ to the Mayor of London because I bloody forgot to pay the congestion charge. I vow never again to be so kind. I declare I am a reformed driver. I'm sure you will change too after having to fork out 100 quid for nothing. Some rules are made to be broken, but not the street rules in London. I do not want to be caught in action again. By the way, do you know there are more than 5000 speed cameras in England and as many as 200,000 cctv in London alone? The spies are everywhere.